W O R K F L O W S - Adobe 65030365 - FrameMaker - PC Manual

publishing engine for database-resident content or XML data. Using the FDK, developers
can integrate FrameMaker Server into applications that automatically render customized
or personalized data in rich, complex formats.
O t h e r k e y u s e r s
The capabilities of FrameMaker for creating and maintaining long, complex documents
make it a natural choice for governments, large organizations, and scientific/research orga-
nizations. Each of these entities produces large numbers of often complex documents that
must be published with a common format to multiple output channels. All must meet the
ever-changing requirements to deliver to multiple channels, including print, PDF, and the
Web, and many are facing new requirements to deliver personalized content via XML.
FrameMaker 8 software also supports organizations that need to add 3D and interactive
content to their publishing workflows.
Many commercial publishers have relied on FrameMaker software's long-document fea-
tures for textbooks and reference materials. These same publishers can use FrameMaker
software's multichannel publishing features to generate new revenue streams from multi-
ple output channels or XML-based personalized content delivery.
C O M P A R I N G D O C U M E N T WO R K F L O W S
Document workflows — the process by which authors create and maintain content — can
be organized into three general categories: design- and format-driven, template-driven,
and structure/XML-driven. In contrast to page layout applications or word processors,
FrameMaker excels at supporting template-driven and XML-driven process models.
D e s i g n - a n d f o r m a t - d r i v e n w o r k f l o w s
Documents can be created from a broad variety of authoring tools and processes. For
example, magazine designers conceive and implement their ideas based on a page-oriented
paradigm. Their process model is a design-driven workflow, where the components of a
page (such as the story title, the lead paragraph, the body copy, the illustrations, and the
photos) are considered separate assets. Graphic designers use their artistic skills to manu-
ally position and manipulate these components on individual pages.
Word processing users, however, often follow a format-driven workflow. For example, they
select text and manually apply formatting properties — font size, font style, line spacing,
paragraph spacing, and so on.
The design-driven and format-driven process models place significant emphasis on the
user's skill and dedication to lay out and format the content consistently and correctly. The
output of these types of workflows tends to be channel-specific. For instance, a magazine's
graphic design and layout that is optimized for the size of the printed page is often
inappropriate for other media such as the Web. Repurposing design- or format-driven
content for other output media typically requires a substantial reformatting effort.
Te m p l a t e - d r i v e n w o r k f l o w s
A template-driven workflow can effectively address the limitations of design- and format-
driven models. In a template-driven workflow, the format of the content is controlled by a
style sheet that is part of a template, which controls the physical layout of the finished pub-
lication. Users tag the content to identify components such as chapter names, words to be
3